Our Yard Sale

Well, we had a yard sale yesterday. We do this every two or three years as a way to clear out excess stuff that has been piling up in the garage. Stuff we’ve scavenged and thought we could use, mostly, but then realize that we won’t. Might as well put it back into the endless flow of acquisitions and possessions.

Because we live on a street with very little foot traffic, we didn’t have a great turnout, but everyone who arrived ended up buying at least something — and then being given a free thing or two just for stopping by. Among other visitors, we met a young couple who just moved back to California after a long stint in Connecticut. (I asked them what Connecticut is like. The woman said, “Um — a lot of trees.” The guy said, “There’s not much else there.”) We met an artist who has great plans for those slide carousels she carried away from our free-box. We met a man who told us he is “intensely devoted to picnics,” and bought some picnic supplies as well as a beige china teapot. Curiously, no sooner than we had sold the teapot than a neighbor who works in the food industry came over and brought us a big free bag of tea — apparently it had been mis-mixed at the factory and two varieties got into the same bag, so it couldn’t be sold. We were glad to get it, and will brew it in saucepans having sold the teapot (which we never really used anyway). This neighbor bought a radio, a vintage can with Chinese writing on it, and a large faded flag which we think was once on a boat or ship. We gave him a sumo-wrestling program (as his wife is Japanese and a big sumo fan) and a bag of lemons.

When you give yard sales, people always ask for stuff you don’t have. This time it was jewelry and camping equipment. But we DID have books, scented candles (still in their original boxes with German labels), a toy balalaika, computer parts, a sequined sundress, pan-pipes, lampshades, a pocket-sized slot machine, and so much more. For some reason, no one bought the pan-pipes. Also, no one bought the two walking-canes, the wheelie-cart or most of the clothes. A row of free-boxes is now lined up at the top of the driveway, just waiting for some scavengers.